Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Showcasing One Ingredient -An Exercise in Food Photography


                                     Lens18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 at 95mm, f/5.3, 1/3s ISO 200

Many times we cook and click pictures of dishes we want to share and pay much attention to setting up the dish in order to make it appealing in the photograph. We do not think of the ingredients that have made the dish as good as it looks while tasting even better.


Though I am not very obsessed with cutting the vegetables in uniform sizes or measuring out every grain, I do have the patience not to mess the kitchen counter as I work there. I tend to keep them arranged in some orderly manner as I work. this is not an obsession but training.
So when this month's photography exercise was announced by Aparna, I thought that I will have many options to show, and thus kept taking pictures of whatever my eye suggested as the ingredient. I might have clicked and discarded many just for this one exercise.The few i have selected that I can put them in this post are which I thought were good, though they are not the best. I need more practice with the setting up and angles and many more aspects.
The area at home which receives abundant natural light is just outside the kitchen where the South East side is a glass door. There is no other window to let light in from any other direction. And many times it is not direct or harsh light which may be an advantage.

 Focal length 120mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, ISO 100
As young children it was compulsory that we had fruits and my mother would meticulously peel the oranges, make us sit and share it among us sometimes sprinkling some sugar on the top. She would peel them thus and remove the seeds before we consumed them. Till date she peels her oranges for the juice and does not use the citrus juicer. I had some oranges from the festival season at home and wanted to make juice. As I was placing them back on the tray, they looked neat enough to be in a picture.                                                                    
Just back from the market and putting them away, the garlic wholes fell out of the bag and I pulled out one pod and shot  two pictures. While my husband liked one, my daughter approved the other.

   In both the pictures the settings are the same  with just a slight difference in the shutter speed.
They were both shot at 90mm, f/5.3 and ISO 100 while one was at 1/13 seconds the other was at 1/15 seconds.




                 









                                                                            





Though we get locally grown tomatoes, the one in the picture below is good for soups and making stuffed tomatoes. I buy them occasionally as they are expensive to pick them on a whim. And so are the peppers as compared to the regular green capsicums that are very small. While I use these too for stuffing, I do use them in other dishes.










The green gram in this picture has been measured (in those jars) for making maalaadu, a very famous South Indian sweet which I am aiming to post soon.

 Lens 18-55mm  f/3.5 - 5.6, Focal length 55mm,f/4.8, 1/8s, ISO 200



Hope you have enjoyed the pictures. Stay tuned for some recipes with these right here.


24 comments:

  1. Wow... akka.. nice pics and the oranges in particular are very nice... one requires a lot of patience to peel them so beautifully.

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  2. very nice tips and clicks

    great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

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  3. I liked the poondu picture the best, nice pictures :)

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  4. Lata I loved the second garlic click.
    I work on my dining table near the windows which face west and always work against the light...
    I sometimes pull down the white blinds which help control the light but usually it is the light coming in through plain glass windows. Did you take them in the afternoon or the morning time?
    Thanks!

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    1. Around mid morning Shri. the sun is up a bit and of light reflects off the compound wall a few feet away. I wish I had used another container for the pears that will not show the reflection as much as it does in this.

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    2. Thankyou Lata! I used to take some pictures in the mid-mornign space just before noon/1 pm.
      However now I work during the evening, late-evening hours. It takes time because I don't use a tripod or a stand.
      Lata have you tried the pears right on the table? I have a couple of pictures of peaches which I have not posted, and it worked well on the table.

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    3. I had a piece of board (door removed from a cupboard shelf) and placed the pears on that. My table top is more polished, this seemed to me like the boards many others use to bring out nicer textures.

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    4. Of course! Even a good sheet of poster paper will work well.

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  5. Lovely pictures Lata, each one is special...

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  6. Awesome photography. I love the oranges first and the garlic followed by tomato next :)Super.. kalakareenga Latha ji :)

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  7. wow Lataji, Super!!!! Love that Oranges, i like both the garlic clicks!!! first one thalaya virichindu and second one has a lovely shade on it!!!! Your Camera is listening to you very well!!!!!

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  8. Beautiful clicks.
    And such patience - with oranges!!!

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  9. Really nice photographs, Lata. Especially like the one of the garlic (on the right) and the whole moong. If I may, I would suggest that next time perhaps you could compose your shots a little less tight. For example, if there was a little more space above the jars of moong. Try it and see how you feel the composition looks.
    Thanks for joining me this month.

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    1. I get what you mean. I shall try so next time on. Looking forward to the next exercise.

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  10. maybe a bit more lights , the photos are not too sharp :D

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  11. First time here...Came from Aparna's space...You got a beautiful space and lovely collection...Happy to be with you in the exercise..Photos are beautiful..Loved the garlic clicks most..The way light is falling on them is lovely..Liked the arrangement of the moong dal...I am a beginner in this area..my suggestion would be to provide a little more space..

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  12. I really like the rightside (garlic and the tomato) I really like those pots with moong but it feels like its abruptly cropped...

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Thank you Anisha. Yes I did some cropping, albeit a bit too close, I guess now that you have mentioned. I will have that in mind next time around.

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Hello,
Welcome and thank you for taking time to drop by.
I appreciate your valuable comments and tips.
I sincerely hope to improve with them.
Hope we shall interact often.
Thanks once again,
Lata Raja.